Midnight Crusade (History)
The Midnight Crusade was not a single, organized war effort but instead a long, drawn-out series of military confrontations between the rising Established Orders of Adepts and the entrenched Pagan Gods. The Midnight Crusade came to a head following the ascendancy of Judaism and Christianity in the Roman Empire and the secret wars fought between Pagans and other Adepts were drowned out in the bloody age of the early Roman Empire. Mists of Pre-History: In ancient times, before the invention of writing, ancient Beasts and Monsters ruled the world. The primitive humans fought for survival in a world dominated by fantastic creatures, especially the Nephilim and the Giants. The Nephilim, according to Middle-Eastern mythological lore and the oral traditions of the Pagan Gods themselves, battled and defeated the Giants for control of the land. The Nephilim then ruled over the primitive humans and most of the other Supernaturals. Adepts were alive back then, but they were few. They were born from the occasional shaman or holy man who encountered God and was transformed. They still managed to play key roles, but they lacked the numbers to bring about real change. However, the development of religion in the ancient world soon started changing that. The idea of a supreme god or all-encompassing being eventually gave birth to Henotheism, which in times developed into Monotheism or simply Theism as it is known today. However, it wasn't the Adepts who fought the Nephilim and freed mankind from the shackles of ignorance of the spirit world. That honor goes to another, usually unexpected third party. Arrival Of The Pagan Gods: The Pagan Gods had by now come down to Earth and masqueraded as the many heathen deities. The people, seeing their supernatural abilities as miracles and thus proof of their divinity, fell down in worship before these proto-Pagan Gods. The Pagan Gods soaked up the mortal worship, enlarging themselves and their own powers. Quickly they amassed their own personal fiefdoms and set out with entire armies to make war against the Nephilim. A war they won in time. This was the golden age of the Pagan Gods, the time of Zeus, Jupiter, Odin and Ra. This was the time when the Pantheons formed and came into their own. Mortal humans lived out their lives in the shadows of the Pagan Gods and the many, often motley Pantheons that had now sectioned off the entire globe into fiercely defended territories. For many ages this period lasted, but it was not meant to last forever. The Midnight Crusade: Order of Adepts began appearing on Earth in sizable numbers. Polytheism always seemed to develop naturally into Henotheism, which in turn produced Adepts. It is a strange irony that the Pagan Gods, in masquerading as gods, actually paved the way for the people to come to the realization of Monotheism faster than they probably would have. The Pagan Gods themselves helped to foster the creation of their dire enemies. In time, the Orders of Adepts built up the first Chapters and soon made war against the Pagan Gods. This was a long effort and the battles were often sporadic and far-in between. But with enough time ,it became clear that the Pagan Gods were slowly losing ground. The Pagan Gods had never been that good at working together and even when beset by a common foe, the Pantheons simply could not trust each other enough to work together. And a second major disadvantage they had was that the Adepts could reproduce their numbers quickly since they were born from the mortal populations, where else the Pagan Gods essentially remained at the same number. Every casualty they took was like an irrevocable lose. The populatiry of the early proto-Theist Tribes (Zarostrians, Amerindian religions, and especially Judaism) brought the forces of the Pagan Gods to the breaking point. The rise of Christianity and Islam finally shattered what little real power the global network of Pantheons had left. Return Of The Gods: The Order of Pagans, who are born from Henotheism or simply the mixing of Monotheism with Polytheism, had mixed loyalties during this period. While an Order of Adepts, they also worshipped the Pagan Gods and derived many of their powers from them. When the other Adepts went hunting for divine blood, the Pagans either took up arms in defense of their deities or attempted to hide them from the other Orders. When the Pagan Gods fell, so did the Heathen Order. In fact, the Order of Pagans has never been as large or as powerful as they were during the heyday of the pagan deities. One group in particular, however, developed a dark Ritual by which a slain Pagan God could be resurrected. By sacrificing the lives of others, these Pagans could use the sacrificial blood to revivify their fallen masters... For more info see Cult of Isis.